Society in general continues to attach a stigma to hair loss. Men and women suffer from hair loss, often resulting in self-consciousness relating to the hair loss. Domestic animals, such as cats and dogs, also suffer from hair loss. While the animal is not likely to be emotionally affected by such hair loss, its owner may be, particularly if such an animal is to be shown in various competitions. Additionally, increased hair growth in livestock such as sheep, thereby resulting in increased wool production, is also desirable.
The desire for a healthy full head (or body, in the case of animals) of hair has resulted in a flurry of activity in the technical community to find compounds capable of inducing hair growth. Unfortunately, even the preliminary identification of compounds potentially useful for inducing hair growth is extremely time consuming. Currently, animal models which experience hair loss similar to humans are often used to identify useful compounds. Unfortunately, the researcher must frequently wait months or years for the animal to reach that stage in its life when it begins to lose hair. The researcher must then generally wait several more months following treatment with a compound of interest before assessing the treated area to determine if hair growth has in fact occurred. Such waiting periods are a clear impediment to the search for hair growth actives.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a marker useful for quickly, reliably, and noninvasively identifying whether hair growth is occurring in a subject, as well as a need for a quick, reliable, noninvasive assay employing such a marker for identifying potential hair growth regulating compounds and compositions.